VERTIGOED: ALIEN

VERTIGOED: ALIEN

“I forgot I was watching a mash-up and instead was completely drawn into a gorgeous piece of complete cinema. It’s a clever clip to use because the scene has no dialogue — there are no silently moving lips that remind us we’re watching a hybrid creation. And every single beat and surge of the music matches beautifully with the imagery. But what pushes it into the sublime is that I found myself seeing and feeling emotions I’ve never felt before while watching this scene. I’ve probably seen this movie 20 times. But this is the first time I’ve felt the alien’s pain. And watching Ripley’s face, I felt her feeling the alien’s pain as well. What a gorgeous, weird, unexpected experience.” — Greg Pak

“Hermann’s score could have been written for this scene. The matching of musical emotion with the visual is rather astonishing in light of the [contest’s] no-cuts rule and the completely unrelated nature of the two films, Vertigo and Alien. If serendipitous, then it’s amazing. If the mash-up artist chose Alien because he knew this scene would fit so well with Herrmann’s music, then behold, a genius in our midst.” — Jim Beaver

For a complete list of winners in Press Play’s “Vertigoed” contest, click here.